Lenin had also ended the war with Germany by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. However, this was a humiliating treaty for Russia as the Germans had been extremely harsh and the treaty took land, industries and people from Russia. After the Reds’ victory in the civil war, Lenin set about creating the world’s first communist state. He introduced war communism whereby the people saw the rapid nationalization of all industries as well as the requisitioning of all surplus grain from the peasants. Even though this solved all the immediate needs of the communist state, the majority of the peasants were unhappy about the new policies and rebelled against the Bolsheviks.
To understand and identify the aspects of the totalitarian system in both countries it's important to consider both countries history. On November the 11th 1918 Germany agreed to signed the Armistice. After Germany was forced to accept Versailles agreement by accepting guilt for WW 1. As a consequence the German people were demotivated and had no confidence in the new liberal democratic Weimar government and international forces. This resulted in risings such as the Spartacist rising where communists fuelled by the success of the Russian revolution almost occupied nearly every major city in Germany.
Trotsky was given the task of negotiating with the Germans. Russia was to lose a great deal of land which included 60 million people to the Germans. The land also included 25% of her farming land and 75% of her iron ore and coal deposits. But the treaty got Russia out of the war and allowed Lenin the time to concentrate on home issues. The civil war was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party.
Germany had lost the war, people, and land already why do they have to make it harder for them to defend themselves in the future? Germany was forced to sign a statement that said that it was the primary cause of the war. How was that true? Serbia pulled the first assassination that caused war not Germany. Lastly, Germany was forbidden to have an air force.
The people of Russia desired to leave World War I as smoothly and as quickly as possible (Wade 29). The price of supplies were growing, as well as their young men were dying in a world war; but the Russian Provisional Government denied their wishes for peace in the war, angering its citizens. The Provisional Government took power after Tsar Nicholas II gave power to his brother, but his brother refused to accept imperial power. The Provisional Government was then created to determine the structure of the next government.
The Weimar Republic looked to be collapsing from the beginning. All the events that finally led to the ending of democracy in Germany were seemed to be caused by the Treaty of Versailles. The loss of the war for the Germans was a huge turning point as it was seem that the Allies wanted to crush Germany. They were unable to pay the reparations, as extremists from both the right and left wing found the war guilt clause unacceptable. When the Germans had lost World War I, had a huge impact back in Germany.
Since Russia and France were allies and France didn’t like Germany due to the lost war against them in 1870, they declared war on Germany on August 3rd 1914. Germany wanted to start
He believed the only way Russia could gain from the war was if it lasted for a long time and France, Britain and Germany exhausted themselves. Thirdly, he was unhappy with Britain not only for the policy of Appeasement but also for their slowness to negotiate. For these reasons he did not trust Britain. The Pact stated that Germany and Russia would not fight each other, rather they would work together and split what they gained between them.
In the early 1930’s Stalin felt threatened by his growing opposition and was determined to bring the party under his total control. At the 17th Party Congress in 1934, Sergei Kirov received the vast majority of votes which led to his assassination due to the threat that he posed to Stalin’s leadership. Many argued that this was a turning point in Russian history. It unleased a terror that killed millions in the next four years. Stalin was able to eliminate all effective opposition through a series of purges.
The Treaty of Versailles Was an Unfair Settlement I believe that the Treaty of Versailles was an unfair settlement. The Treaty of Versailles was not a treaty, but instead a surrender document that the defeated Germans had to sign or face the risk of invasion. I believe the Treaty of Versailles was a series of penalties and punishments imposed on Germany. Rather than seeking ways to prevent future wars, the victorious allies decided instead to weaken the Germans by hurting their national pride. Both the Allies and Germany wanted to expand their territory.